SEO Metrics <= 1.0.15 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.0.16
- Affected Plugin
- SEO Metrics
- Affected Version
<= 1.0.15- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-6754
At a glance
CVE-2025-6754 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the SEO Metrics WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.15. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.0.16; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2025, reported by kr0d.
Vulnerability Overview
The SEO Metrics plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation due to missing authorization checks in both the seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click() AJAX handler and the seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint() function in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.15. Because the AJAX action only verifies a nonce, without checking the caller’s capabilities, a subscriber-level user can retrieve the token and then access the custom endpoint to obtain full administrator cookies.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
SEO Metrics <= 1.0.15 carries this weakness at seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.
Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For SEO Metrics the fix is 1.0.16: builds <= 1.0.15 are affected, anything from 1.0.16 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.0.16, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: SEO Metrics 1.0.16 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C